“Shine Brightly!”  Devotional #23

         

            I find lighthouses to be beautiful.  The few times I have seen one I can’t help but wonder how many maritime vessels it had helped out.  Gone are the days of the popularity of the lighthouse.  They are hardly used in today’s modern world because of all of the electronic navigational systems.  But, there are still some that are being used around the world.  They are a great source of light for many ships to navigate safely to harbors and spot hard to see coastlines that can be dangerous due to the darkness or heavy storms “hiding” rocks or reefs.  There have been many people that have been saved due to a lighthouse guiding ships in perilous conditions.

            Jesus calls His believers the light of the world.  Mathew 5:13-16, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (NIV)  It is like we are the lighthouses to the world around us.  What is this light we need to shine to others? 

            Jesus is our light.  He is the light in the darkness.  John 1:3-5, “Everything was created through him; nothing—not one thing!—came into being without him.  What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by.  The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.” (MSG)   Ephesians 5:8-10, “You groped your way through that murk once, but no longer. You’re out in the open now. The bright light of Christ makes your way plain. So no more stumbling around. Get on with it! The good, the right, the true—these are the actions appropriate for daylight hours. Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.” (MSG)

            “The good, the right, the true…” that is “the light” that we are to shine to the world around us.  Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” (NIV)  It is when we are in step with the Light that lives in us that we can reflect His Light out to the world around us.  No one that needs and wants to see something in the dark would hide a working light, right?  No one would expect a light to be hidden, so why is it that it is hidden sometimes if not all of the time by some?

            My dear friend, shine brightly!  Shine your light to those in your world without any reservations.  Do not worry about what people would say or think about you if they were to know that you are not only a believer but a believer that has no qualms about the world knowing that you are one.  Every now and then I get a question from a student in one of my classes that goes something like this, “do you mean I have to stand on the sidewalk and yell out that Christ is coming again and if they don’t repent they’ll be going to hell?  I don’t know if I can do that.”

            No, that is not what Jesus meant when He said that we are the light to the world.  What He meant was if you never open your mouth and share Him with those in your life how will they know about Him?  How will they know what living for Christ means if you don’t exhibit that?  How will they know what it means to have a loving relationship with Jesus if you never share anything about it. 

            Yes, we are to respect the rules of the schools, workplaces or public buildings but when given the chance, every chance the Lord provides we need to shine His Light.  We need to shine brightly!  In a Sunday School class I was in a long time ago the teacher said something I’ll never forget, “testimony, testimony, testimony, and if you need to speak then speak.”  In other words, it is in the way we live our lives, how we respond to the circumstances in our lives, how we treat our spouses, our children, our friends, our integrity, our honesty.  Our way of life as well as what we say is how we can shine brightly!  

  

Thank you for reading this devotional.  My dear friend, I appreciate you and am praying for you.  Thanks for passing on this blog to others!  Please continue to pass it on.  God bless you!

 

*If you would like to read this same devotional in Spanish or know of someone that would please visit my Spanish blog at www.ministerioreflejandolaverdad.blogspot.com